ALBERTA LEPIDOPTERISTS’ GUILD NEWSLETTER SPRING 2017

Welcome to the ALG Newsletter, a compendium of news, reports, and items of interest related to lepidopterans and lepidopterists in Alberta. The newsletter is produced twice per year, in spring and fall, edited by John Acorn.

Actias luna, Emily Gorda, June 5, 2017, Cold Lake, Alberta

Contents:

Pohl and Macaulay: Additions and Corrections to the Alberta Lep. List...... 2 Macnaughton: The Prairie Province Butterly Atlas...... 5 Pang: Song for a Painted Lady...... 14 Romanyshyn: Quest for creusa...... 15 Bird: Dry Island Butterly Count...... 16 Letters to ALG...... 19 Acorn: From the Editor, and Butterly Roundup Update...... 23

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 1 Additions to the Alberta List, and Corrections to the 2016 Update

Greg Pohl and Doug Macaulay

This note is both an update to the provincial checklist, and a corrigendum to the 2016 update (Pohl & Macaulay 2016), which contained some errors, and the end of the article was accidentally omitted.

Tischeriidae 33.5 Astrotischeria solidagonifoliella (Clemens, 1859). Correction. The report by Pohl & Macaulay (2016) was a misidentiication; this is not known from AB. It is added to the Erroneous species list at #E000.1. 34.1 Astrotischeria occidentalis (Braun, 1972). New record. Specimens were reared from Solidago, collected at Waterton Lakes National Park in 2012 by GRP. Thanks to Charley Eiseman and Terry Harrison for conirming this identiication.

Momphidae 224.1 Mompha brevivittella (Clemens). New record. A series of reared specimens were collected in Edmonton in 2015 by Adrian Jones, and brought to GRP's attention by Colleen Raymond. They were reared from seed pods of Evening Primrose (Oenothera sp.). This species was previously known from eastern Canada as far west as MB. This species, and Adrian and Colleen, are the winners of the ALG's Wolley Dod Discovery Award in 2016, recognising new AB Lepidoptera discoveries. These specimens were originally identiied in Pohl & Macaulay (2016), as Astrotischeria solidagonifoliella (Clemens), but that was erroneous, as pointed out by Charley Eiseman.

Mompha brevivittella photo by GRP

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 2 Tortricidae 595.01 Ancylis loridana (Zeller, 1875). Correction. This was incorrectly reported by Pohl & Macaulay (2016) as the valid name for records previously listed in North America as A. comptana (Frölich). That is incorrect. Ancylis comptana is reinstated at #595. Ancylis loridana is a synonym of A. comptana.

Noctuidae 2149.1 acutipennis (Grote, 1880). New record. In Schmidt's (2015) revision of the species group, he reinstated L. acutipennis as a valid species, for grassland populations (including some in AB) previously identiied as L. pensilis. True L. pensilis (#2149) also occurs in AB, in the Rocky Mountains. 2149.2 Lacinipolia sareta (Smith, 1906). New status. Lacinipolia vicina Grote (#2148) was historically reported across Canada, including AB. However, when Schmidt (2015) revised the vicina species group, he determined that most AB populations previously identiied as L. vicina are in fact L. sareta. True L. vicina does not occur in AB; it is restricted to eastern NA. It should be added to the Erroneous Species List at #E153.1.

References (note this includes references that were inadvertently omitted from Pohl & Macaulay 2016): Bowman K (1951) An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta. Canadian Journal of Zoology 29: 121–165. Doganlar M, Beirne BP (1978) Fruit tree leafrollers (Lepidoptera) and parasites (Hymenoptera) introduced in the Vancouver District, British Columbia. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 75: 23–24. Ferguson DC, Opler PA, Smith MJ (2000) of western North America, 3. Distribution of Arctiidae of western North America, Part 1. Text, maps, and references. C.P. Gillette Biodiversity Museum, Ft. Collins, CO, 171 pp. Gilligan TM, Baixeras J, Brown JW, Tuck KR (2014) T@RTS: Online World Catalogue of the Tortricidae (Ver. 3.0). http://www.tortricid.net/ catalogue.asp Gilligan T, Huemer P, Wiesmair B (2016) Different continents, same species? Resolving the of some Holarctic Ancylis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Zootaxa 4178: 347-370. Karsholt O, Lvovsky AL, Nielsen C (2004) A new species of Agonopterix feeding on giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) in the Caucasus, with a

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 3 discussion of the nomenclature of A. heracliana (Linnaeus) (Depressariidae). Nota Lepidopterologica 28: 177-192. Kirichenko N, Triberti P, Mutanen M, Magnoux E, Landry J-F, Lopez-Vaamonde C (2016) Systematics and biology of some species of Micrurapteryx Spuler (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) from the Holarctic Region, with re- description of M. caraganella (Hering) from Siberia. ZooKeys 579: 99-156. Lafontaine JD, Schmidt BC (2015) Additions and corrections to the check list of the (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico III. ZooKeys 527: 127-147. Munroe E, Becker VO, Shaffer JC, Shaffer M, Solis MA (1995) Pyraloidea, pp. 34-105. In: J.B. Heppner (editor). Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 2, Volume 3. Hyblaeoidea, Pyraloidea, Tortricoidea. Scientiic Publishers, Gainesville, FL. Obraztsov NS (1963) Some North American moths of the Acleris (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 114: 213–270. Pohl GR (2014) Additions and Corrections to the Alberta Lepidoptera List, 2014. Alberta Lepidopterists’ Guild Newsletter Fall 2014: 2–10. Pohl GR, Anweiler GG, Schmidt BC, Kondla NG (2010) An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada. ZooKeys 38: 1-549. Pohl GR, Dombroskie JJ, Landry J-F, Bird CD, Nazari V (2011) Errata and irst update to the 2010 checklist of the Lepidoptera of Alberta. Alberta Lepidopterists' Guild Newsletter Spring 2011: 10-17. Pohl GR, Bird CD, Nazari V, Landry J-F (2012) 2012 update to the checklist of the Lepidoptera of Alberta. Alberta Lepidopterists' Guild Newsletter Spring 2012: 7-13. Pohl GR, Anweiler GG, Bird, CD, Landry, J-F, Macaulay, DA, Maton I, Nazari N, Scott J (2013) 2013 update to the checklist of the Lepidoptera of Alberta. Alberta Lepidopterists' Guild Newsletter Fall 2013: 15-24. Pohl, GR, Macalay, DA (2016). Additions and corrections to the Alberta Lepidoptera list, 2016. Alberta Lepidopterists' Guild Newsletter Fall 2016: 41-46. Pohl, GR, Nazari V, deWaard J, Anweiler GG (2015) Additions and corrections to the Alberta Lepidoptera list, 2015. Alberta Lepidopterists' Guild Newsletter Fall 2015: 2-11. Schmidt BC (2015) Revision of the Lacinipolia vicina (Grote) complex (, , ). ZooKeys 527: 103-126. Scholtens BG, Solis MA (2015) Annotated check list of the Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) of America North of Mexico. ZooKeys 535: 1-136.

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 4 The Prairie Province Atlas

Alan Macnaughton ([email protected]) This article announces the launch of an online butterly atlas for the prairie provinces (www.ontarioinsects.org/prairie). While it is now based on just the 10,000 records posted on eButterly as of January 2017, the plan is to consolidate all butterly observation data from various sources for the three provinces. The Atlas is initially a project of volunteers with the Toronto Entomologists’ Association (TEA), using software from the Ontario Butterly Atlas Online (Macnaughton, 2011; Macnaughton et al., 2017), but it is expected to evolve into a partnership with the Alberta Lepidopterists’ Guild. The Atlas is expected to be of interest to local butterly observers and may also contribute to scientiic research. For example, the light season data from the TEA’s Ontario atlas was a principal source for the azure blues research of Schmidt and Layberry (2016).

Why a Separate Atlas?

Websites like eButterly are great for entering butterly observations (and uploading the associated photos) and archiving them for future use. However, these sites may not be the best vehicles for retrieving and analyzing the data. Partly this is because different observers prefer different data-entry websites, and so no one site has all of the data for a particular location. But the bigger reason is that since every website project has limited resources ($60,000 annually for eButterly; Prudic et al., 2017), website sponsors have to make choices about the features to invest in. For example, eButterly is currently working on adding a facility in which various observers (not just the observer and the vetter) can add comments on species determinations. Thus, the new Prairie Provinces Butterly Atlas focuses on data output and analysis, rather than data input. The Prairie Provinces Atlas shows: for each species, maps of butterly records for the prairie provinces as a whole and, when the user zooms in, maps of butterly records for any particular area (e.g., Edmonton); for each species, and for each area in which the species is found, (i) charts of the light season for 36 sections of the calendar year, and (ii) a table showing earliest and latest dates, median date, numbers of observations, etc.; and for any particular area, a species list and a contributor list.

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 5 The Atlas Display

The atlas display, or map screen, consists of the legend (bottom left of the screen), map controls (top and bottom right of the screen), and the map itself (the rest of the screen). When the user changes a setting in the legend or in the map controls, the geographical area shown on the screen will not change. On visiting the Atlas website, the user’s irst task is to choose a particular species (or choose “All species”). A total of 227 choices are available (including some subspecies), based on the choices available on eButterly for the three provinces. Currently 177 of these have at least one observation in the Atlas. Common names are drawn from eButterly but scientiic names are from Pohl et al. (2016). Go to the box displayed in the legend, at the bottom left of the screen. Choose the species by (1) clicking on the downward pointing arrow to display the list of 227 choices (note the scroll bar); or (2) typing all or part of the common name or scientiic name (to show species whose names contain that string of letters). Then the Atlas will display, on the same screen, a Google map for that species for the three provinces. One can change from one species to another in the same two ways. Alternatively, at the line below the species box there are “<” and “>” buttons to move to the species which are respectively one lower and one higher in taxonomic order. The default map type is squares that are 10 km on each side, for which the required computer iles are from Bird Studies Canada. Bird Studies Canada divided the three provinces into about 21,000 such squares for use in its breeding-bird atlases. Only 585 of these 10K squares (3%) currently have any

Papilio zelicaon, Medicine Lodge Hills, June 4, 2017, J. Acorn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 6 butterly records. The computer code for the Atlas assigns butterly observations to these squares using the lat-long values provided by the observer (through clicking on the eButterly map). The default screen shown when the user irst opens the Atlas covers the prairie provinces as a whole (although this can vary with different computer monitors). There are two ways to zoom in (so that the area of interest ills the screen): (1) use the scroll wheel of the mouse, rolling forward to zoom in and rolling backward to zoom out; and (2) going to the bottom right of the screen and clicking on the “ + ” to zoom in and the “ – “ to zoom out. When the user zooms in, the colour for the map areas (squares and forest regions) will become more transparent, to allow the user to see the geographical features on the map and determine what locality he or she is looking at. Users will also want to change the area of the map shown on the screen,

Cheryl Kee and Laura Hay, in search of Phyciodes at the Emerson Bridge,June 20, 2017, J. Acorn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 7 e.g., to see the area north of the area currently shown. To do this, click and drag the mouse (i.e., hold down the mouse button, move the mouse in the desired direction, and release). The map screen contains three other features. First, dragging the stick igure (“peg man”) shown in the top right of the screen to the desired location will open Google Street View at that point (which, when applied to a rural road or highway, can be used to ind suitable butterly habitat for a ield trip). Second, clicking on the circle at the bottom right of the screen will show a blue circle on the map at the user’s current physical location. (However, this generally only works when accessing the Atlas from a smart phone.) Third, the box shown below “Forest Regions” in the legend displays a URL that stores the information about the map that the user is currently viewing. The text in this box can be copied and pasted in an email or document when one desires to show another person the exact map (species, map type, map centre and map zoom) one has been viewing.

The Info Window for Squares

Suppose the current map type is the default, 10K squares, and the species chosen is species X. Clicking on some square, say square Y (which may require zooming in irst in order to hit it accurately) brings up the info window for that square-species combination. This provides links to additional information, three of which relate to the retrieval of records: a link to adult observations ordered by calendar day (which is useful in order to see earliest and latest observations in the calendar year); a link to adult observations ordered by date, with the most recent observations appearing at the top; and a link to caterpillar and ova observations (including records of ovipositing on particular plants). A further three links in the info window provide the same choices, but for the prairie provinces as a whole rather than just square Y. Another part of the info window for 10K squares for a particular species are two links under the heading “Time of Year”, which provide data on light seasons (phenograms). Clicking on the irst of these links – the link for “square, forest region, etc.” -- brings up a webpage containing four charts, each of which shows the distribution of adult butterly observations on that species across 36 sections of the calendar year. These sections are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd month-third (i.e., days 1-10, days 11-20, and day 21 to the end of the month) for each of 12 months. The irst of these four charts is for the square itself, while the other three are for larger areas that the square is a part of. The latter charts are useful

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 8 where there are not enough records in the square to provide reliable data on the light season in that square. The larger areas used are: the census division, as deined by Statistics Canada; the census division together with other census divisions adjoining it; and the forest region (Rowe, 1972). In addition to these charts, this webpage provides a table summarizing key data on the light season: earliest record, latest record, median record, number of observations, etc.. Finally, the second link under “Time of Year” produces a similar webpage, except that it provides charts which compare the light season of that species in different areas of the prairie provinces (as measured by the four forest regions with the most records). The inal part of the info window for 10K squares for a particular species are two links under the heading of “Time Trend”. These links relate to charts showing numbers of records for each year of the past 36 years, 1982-2017. They are similar to the “Time of Year” charts except that they relate to years rather than month-thirds. If the species chosen is not a particular species, but is instead “All Species”, there are two sets of additional links: species lists for adult observations, provided in two different formats – in taxonomic order and with the species with the fewest records shown irst; and contributor lists, either alphabetic or in decreasing order of number of records. Soon, the species will display, for each species on the list, (1) the earliest and latest adult observation for that species, and (2) the irst and last years in which the species has been recorded. Similarly, the contributor list will soon display for each contributor the irst and last year in which he or she has provided data.

Poanes hobomok, Bentley,Jjune 4, 2017, J. Acorn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 9 Papilio canadensis, Ellis Bird Farm, June 3, 2017, J. Acorn

Map Types Other than Squares

In the legend, just below the butterly photo, the user can change the map type from 10K squares to something else by clicking on any of the radio buttons. Besides squares, map type choices are: (1) points (currently 11,000) – the dot on the map for each butterly record; (2) Statistics Canada’s census divisions, of which there are currently butterly records for 52 of the 60; (3) forest regions, for which there are currently butterly records for all eight. The points map type is useful in that it shows the exact location of each butterly record. By zooming in, the user can ind suitable locations to visit to look for butterlies. On the other hand, the main use of the other map types is to facilitate retrieval of records. For example, clicking on the “Grasslands” forest region brings up the info window, which provides links to retrieve records for

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 10 that region in all three provinces (and to obtain a species list for that forest region). If the map type for a particular species is not 10K squares, the “Time of Year” and “Time Trend” links are not available in the Atlas. However, the links for retrieval of records and for species lists and contributor lists are present. They are the same as described above for 10K squares.

Help!

Currently there are 139 contributors to the Atlas. Each contributor can make a tremendous difference to the knowledge of the butterlies found in his or her own square, as each square currently contains an average of only 18 observations on all species combined (10,000 records over 585 squares). So, “own” a square and build up its records. Record not just the rare and surprising stuff but also the more routine things; if you can, record every species seen every day you go out. The full set of records helps to ill out light season charts, and serves as a baseline against which future changes in species distribution and abundance can be measured. And there are so many squares for which there is no data at all, even in populated areas. If you have time, ill in those empty squares. So, even though data is skimpy now in many respects, I hope this will be a case of “if you build it, they will come.” As one example of what might be possible, the TEA’s atlas of silkmoths and sphinx moths had just 2,500 records at launch this spring -- but in just three months it has more than doubled to 5,500 records. Contribute records using eButterly in the usual way or, if that doesn’t suit, use iNaturalist or BAMONA (both of which have facilities to download data to the Atlas) or email the TEA (address above). Also, more volunteer help in constructing the Atlas is needed if it is to grow and prosper.

Only eButterly data has been used up to now, but the Atlas should consolidate data currently contained in eButterly, iNaturalist, BAMONA, BugGuide, museum databases and private observers’ own historical records. The task would be to identify suitable data, make arrangements with its owner, and convert all of the data to a standard format. Eliminating duplicate observations would be an issue. Some familiarity with Excel spreadsheets would be helpful. Another task, which would be suitable for someone with local butterly knowledge, would be to work on the quality of the data by identifying

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 11 questionable observations (unusual species, unusual time of year for a species, unusual habitat for a species, etc.). Often this is simply an error in entering the data in eButterly or in the Atlas, and contacting the observer can sort it out. A person with photo-editing software is needed to resize photos and to add captions identifying the photographer. I have no photos for many species, and for others I have only Ontario photos. Help from a person familiar with GIS software (any one of ArcGIS, QGIS, etc.) would be useful. Parks (national, provincial and maybe local) would be nice to add as a map type, but some GIS mapping work is required as there is no readily available computer ile for this.

Finally, input is welcome—let me know about things that do not work, are unintuitive, or could be improved. For example, should forest regions be replaced with ecozones (Pohl et al., 2014) as a map type? Thanks are due to John Acorn (my principal contact in the ALG) for encouraging this work. Thanks are also due to Bev Edwards and Ross Layberry, my collaborators in the TEA who worked on the GIS and butterly database aspects of the Atlas respectively. Ontario Nature, and in particular Brad McGinn, also deserves thanks; the current single-page Angular GIS, Google Fusion Tables and MySQL code was developed in partnership and is used in both the TEA atlases and Ontario Nature’s reptile and amphibian atlas.

Polygonia satyrus, west of Rimbey, July 20, 2017, J. Acorn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 12 References

Macnaughton, Alan. 2011. Free Mapping Software for Butterly Atlases: Combining Quantum GIS with Google Fusion Tables. News of the Lepidopterists’ Society 53:4, 106-110. Available at: http://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/nls/2010s/ 2011/2011_v53_n4.pdf Macnaughton, Alan, Ross Layberry, Colin Jones and Bev Edwards. 2017. Ontario Butterly Atlas Online: http://www.ontarioinsects.org/atlas Pohl, G., B.C. Schmidt, J.D. Lafontaine, J.-F. Landry, G. Anweiler and C.D. Bird. 2014. Moths and butterlies of the prairies ecozone in Canada. In D.J. Giberson and H. A. Cárcamo, eds. of Canadian Grasslands. Volume 4: Biodiversity and Systematics, Part 2. Biological Survey of Canada. Available at https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=35856 Pohl, G., B. Patterson, and J. Pelham. 2016. Annotated taxonomic checklist of the Lepidoptera of North America, North of Mexico. Working paper published online by the authors at ResearchGate.net. 766 pp. Prudic, Kathleen, Kent McFarland, Jeffrey Oliver, Rebecca Hutchinson, Elizabeth Long, Jeremy Kerr and Maxim Larrivée. 2017. eButterly: Leveraging Massive Online Citizen Science for Butterly Conservation. 8, 53. Available at www.mdpi.com/journal/insects Rowe, J.S. 1972. Forest Regions of Canada. Information Canada, Ottawa. Available at: http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/pubwarehouse/pdfs/24040.pdf Schmidt, Christian and Ross Layberry. 2016. What Azure Blues Occur in Canada? A Re-assessment of Celastrina Tutt Species (Lepidoptera, ). ZooKeys 584: 135-164. Available at: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=7882

Celastrina ladon, summer brood, Edmonton,July15, 2017, J. Acorn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 13 Song for a Painted Lady

"Excuse me please", a high voice spoke and so I looked around. A butterly of orange and black sat waiting on the ground. I'd seen this creature whipping by, on airborn wings in light but hadn't seen just where it went nor where it might alight.

"I stopped for you because I'm cold and thought I'd catch some sun to warm my aging wings again before my time is done. I may be old and rather worn but if you cast your eye you'll see me take to wing again, and ly up to the sky."

I put my hand out to the Lady just to feel its touch, and hoped I not would scare it off, I hoped so very much. To my delight it placed one tiny leg onto my hand, and so I let my inger move not knowing what it planned. Then up it lew close to my eyes then landing on a leaf and giving me so many shots I took with joyed relief.

The Painted Lady was quite old, its wings so very torn. I wondered just how far it came and where it had been born. There was no time to ask the creature for the time had come to ly off to the sky of blue with spirits warmed and wings anew ...me standing still.....and numb....

© Annie Pang June 6, 2017

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 14 A Quest for Euchloe creusa

Vic Romanyshyn

On June 9, I went on a collecting trip speciically for Euchloe creusa and Colias gigantea, though a bit early in the summer for the latter. I drove to Rocky Mountain House via Hwy 39 from Calmar to Alsike, then south to Breton where I turned west again and connected with Hwy 22. I stopped at a couple of spots between Buck Creek and Flats looking for Colias of any species but in particular the Giant Sulphur. What I found instead were reasonably large numbers of Painted Ladies. Along with Erebia epipsodea they were the most common butterlies on the wing. West of Rocky Mountain House on Hwy 11 and as far west as the junction of the old Forestry Road to Robb/Cadomin west of Nordegg there were also a few but not in the same numbers. At the junction of the Forestry Road (40/734) there were a number of Euchloe ausonides lying on hillsides that had been logged but I did not see a single Colias of any species nor did I catch a Euchloe creusa which I was after. There were a few skippers lying around which I did not bother to catch, darker in colour and likely Duskywings. The number of Papilio canadensis I saw you could count on one hand. One Milbert`s Tortoise Shell, one Western Tailed Blue but more Silvery Blues. Where, oh where, was the creusa? Sorry, no photos. I never took my camera with me on this trip. Will have to make it a routine habit of bringing the camera along on all future trips. I could have gotten a great shot of a large healthy looking black bear standing in the ditch looking at me staring at him, and three deer forcing me to come to a stop as they crossed the road at another spot.

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 15 Dry Island Butterfly Count, 9 July 2017

Charles Bird, Compiler

Location: Dry Island Buffalo Jump ProvinciaL Park, Red Deer River Valley, east of Huxley.

This was the 18th annual Butterly Count in the Park. As usual, we gathered at the Upper Viewpoint/Parking Lot at 10 a.m.. As folks arrived, a registration list and waiver forms were illed in with the help of Helen Christensen and Tim Schowalter, and a checklist showing the results of all previous counts was handed out. After an introduction by Nick Tinney, the Park Ranger, and various introductions, we drove down to the picnic area where folks scattered and got familiar with the area and its butterlies and skippers. We gathered for lunch at 12. This was followed by talks by Charley Bird, John Acorn, Felix Sperling, David Lawrie and Tim Schowalter, and then we had our traditional group photograph. Afterwards, we divided up into three groups and headed out to continue our count. John Acorn’s group headed up the hill to the northwest, David Lawrie’s group went to the badlands to the northeast, and Charley Bird’s group headed west along the lower badlands and came back along the river. We gathered around 3:30 to add our lists together and we then headed to our respective homes. The forecast was for a sweltering high of 34o but we had light overcast intermixed with clear skies and the temperature only reached 30o. Mosquitoes were seldom a problem. Kilometers on foot estimated to be around 10.

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 16 The participants (39) were Benny Acorn, John Acorn, Gloria Arich, Steve Arich, Charley Bird (Compiler), Elizabeth Bagdan, Amanda Brown, Arianna Brown, Matthew Brown, Rheya Brown, Robert Brown, Bruce Christensen, Helen Christensen, Crystal Petersen, Alison Dent, Les Dobos, Rich Johnson, Sandy Johnson, David Lawrie, Karin Lindquist, Claudia Lipski, Tyler Nelson, Sharon Olsen, Brian Orr, Julie Ostrem (Parks, Miquelon Lakes PP), Dianne Pachal, Crystal Petersen, Jacqui Purves-Smith, Linda Rogers, Rick Rogers, Vicki Savage, Glenys Smith, Tim Schowalter, Felix Sperling, Darcy Stuart, Sharon Stuart, Nicholas Tinney (Park Ranger), Sheila Vale and Rachel Vieira.

SPECIES OBSERVED – The names and order follow that of G.R. Pohl et al., 2010, An Annotated List of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada (ZooKeys 38, 1-549, Special Issue).

Epargyreus clarus (Silverspotted ) - 1 Pyrgus communis (Checkered Skipper) - 1 (Garita Skipper) - 8 Thymelicus lineola (European Skipper) – 1 * peckius (Peck’s Skipper) - 2 Polites themisticles (Tawny-edged Skipper) - 1 Polites mystic (Long Dash Skipper) - 1 (Delaware Skipper) - 2 Euphyes vestris (Dun Skipper) – 1 Papilio machaon dodi (Dod's Old World Swallowtail) – 14 Papilio canadensis (Canadian Tiger Swallowtail) – 1 Colias philodice (Clouded Sulphur) – 76 Colias eurytheme (Alfalfa Butterly ) - 1 Pieris rapae (Cabbage Butterly) – 1 Pontia (Pieris) occidentalis – 2 Satyrium (Harkenclenus) titus ( Coral Hairstreak) - 5 Satyrium liparops (Striped Hairstreak) – 5 Cupido (Everes) amyntula (Western Tailed Blue) - 5 Glaucopsyche lygdamus couperi (Silvery Blue) - 8 Plebejus melissa (Melissa Blue) – 6 Aricia (Plebejus) saepiolus (Greenish Blue) - 7 Aricia shasta (Shasta Blue) – 1 Lycaenidae spp. (Blues) - 2 Limenitis arthemis rubrofasciata (White Admiral) – 4 Euptoieta claudia (Variegated Fritillary) – 3

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 17 bellona (Meadow Fritillary) – 1 cybele pseudocarpenteri (Great Spangled Fritillary) – 3 Speyeria aphrodite () – 3 (Northwestern Fritillary) – 4 Speyeria aphrodite or hesperis – 21 Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady) – 1 Nymphalis antiopa (Mourning Cloak) – 1 progne (Grey Comma) – 1 Chlosyne acastus (Acastus Checkerspot) - 1 Phyciodes cocyta (Northern Pearl Crescent) - 1 Phyciodes batesii (Tawny Crescent) – 2 Phyciodes cocyta or batesii - 3 Cercyonis pegala (Meadow Brown) - 68 Coenonympha tullia inornata (Common Ringlet) – 17

John Acorn kept track of the Odonates. Three dragonlies were observed: Aeschna interrupta (Variable Darner), Ophiogomphus severus (Pale Snaketail) and Sympetrum internum (Cherry-faced Meadowhawk). Last year, we also had Leucorrhinia intacta (Dot-tailed Whiteface) and what was likely a Libellula pulchella (Twelve-spotted Skimmer). Two damsellies were seen: Enallagma boreale (Boreal Bluet) or E. annexum (Northern Bluet) and Coenagrion resolutum (Taiga Bluet). General Comments: We had an excellent turnout with 39 observers (47 last year and 41 the year before that). Thirty-seven species of skippers and butterlies and 285 individuals were seen (last year we had 32 species and 146 individuals). This year’s highlight was the irst record for the area of a Polites peckius, found by Benny Acorn. As this was a Provincial Park, we practiced catch, identify, and release. David Lawrie provided an observation cage into which we put single specimens of various species in for the group to have a close look at. Again, the scenery was spectacular, wildlowers were in abundance and many photographs were taken.

Chlosyne acastus, Redcliff, June 21, 2017, J. Acorn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 18 Letters to ALG

Compiled from Albertaleps and the ALG Facebook Page

I found this beauty at Cold Lake today, June 5, 2017! A irst for me! Emily Gorda

Emily Gorda (see also p. 1)

On June 27, 2017; workers at the cold lake ishery were in for a rare treat when this Male Luna (Actius luna) greeted them on the front door. This visit prompted great excitement and confusion for all present. After getting a positive identiication the workers left this beauty alone in hopes he would ind a mate and repeat visitors would appear. Jessica Gammie

Cori Dunbar

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 19 Hi ALGers,

Forwarding this message on behalf of Mike MacDonald, who has sent in pictures (attached) of a Luna moth that he spotted near Fort McMurray yesterday. Lucky!!! Such a beauty. Cheers, Lisa Lumley

The Lunas have landed. Today (June 5, 2017), I was shown this Luna Moth photo taken this morning NE of Ft. McKay, AB. Chris Fisher

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 20 I spent the majority of today [July 14, 2017] at the Willow Creek Campground/ Public Land Use/Whatever Area (Hwy 532, roughly 9 km W of Hwy 22 = the road from Hwy 22 to Hailstone Butte and then to the Kananaskis Trunk road). Weather-wise, it was an almost perfect day, a wee bit less wind and it would have been perfect. I managed to ind all the male Speyeria shown below at the same location and all nectaring or patrolling in the exact same area. My take on the ID's (clockwise, starting from upper left) are: S. zerene, S. cybele, S. edwardsii. S. aphrodite (?), S. aphrodite(? maybe hesperis/electa/lais/?.), S. atlantis (? ssp ?). Let me know what you think of my ID's. Fun day though watching all of them. They can be told apart in light (or at least I think I think they can!). Dave Lawrie

I was hiking in the J.J. Collett Natural Area on Saturday (July 1) and was pleasantly surprised to see around a dozen Enodia anthedon. I have been hiking in the area for many years and I have encountered the species there only once before and that was a single individual. It appears that the range of the species is gradually increasing to the west and southwest. Charley Bird

I saw one in the Rocky Mountain House area on the weekend; is that about as far west as they’ve gotten? Greg Pohl

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 21 Found a few of these interesting little critters last weekend, while hiking out at Tobin Lake (northwest of Nipawin, SK). They may be heading your way. The location where I spotted them was a small alder thicket surrounded by hectares of sandy jack pine forest. Kind of surprised to see them on that side of the Saskatchewan River (west of Tobin Lake). I thought the river might be a barrier. It seems to be an intensely local species. Daniel Glaeske

Feniseca tarquinius, Tobin Lake, SK, June 3-4, 2017, D. Glaeske

That is a signiicant range extension, if the distribution in 1998 Butterlies of Canada book are up to date. But I have not been tracking additions to the SK butterly fauna, so maybe there are additional recent records. Norbert Kondla

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 22 From the Editor, and the Alberta Butterfly Roundup Update

John Acorn

I hope you enjoyed the Spring Newsletter, despite its appearance at about the end of summer. Other tasks just kept getting in the way. I don’t feel too bad about it, though, since none of my fellow ALGers have said a word about my tardiness. ALG, it seems, is increasingly facilitated by a combination of our email list (Albertaleps), and our Facebook page. So things that are newsworthy are quickly announced there, leaving the Newsletter as a sort of semi-oficial repository for such things, to be kept as an archive. Heck, you have probably already read Annie Pang’s poem! I don’t mind this arrangement, however, and with 129 members on the Facebook page, it seems to be working for others as well. Many of these people are quite new to the study of butterlies and moths, and it is great to see how welcoming and helpful the experienced ALGers have been. Still, the Newsletter serves an important function, announcing such things as the exciting new Atlas project (see article by Alan Macnaughton), and the ever important updates to the Alberta Lepidoptera list by Greg Pohl and Doug Macaulay. I should, however, also update you on the Alberta Butterly Roundup, our collective attempt to relocate all of the species of butterlies known from Alberta, beginning in 2015. As of the last Newsletter the total stood at 136 species. Since, we have added another 5, bringing the total to 141 species. Norbert Kondla found a Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur (Colias alexandra) near Donalda on August 12, not only adding it to the list, but also extending its known range to the north. Vic Romanyshyn found both White-veined Arctic (Oeneis bore) and Polixenes Arctic (Oeneis polixenes) at the Adams Creek Lookout on July 6, and Mt. Stern on July 8, and a Checkered White (Pontia protodice) at the end of July near Police Outpost. Dave Lawrie also contributed, by inding the very species he proiled in the last Newsletter, the Alberta Fritillary (Boloria alberta), at the Cardinal Divide on July 24, on a trip with Vic. Dave also found an Edwards’ Fritillary (Speyeria edwardsii) at the Willow Creek Campground on July 14. I will revise the list of remaining species for the next Newsletter, but for the rest of the 2017 season the butterlies to look for are Pine White (Neophasia menapia, in dry pine forests in the mountains) and Oreas Anglewing (, in the southwest corner).

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 23 V. Romanyshyn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 24 And because this issue was rather butterly heavy, let’s end with a really nice looking moth (just as we began with another, the increasingly common Luna, a species unheard of in Alberta just a few short years ago). Here is the Western Poplar Clearwing (), photographed in Edmonton on June 15, 2017, by John Acorn.

V. Romanyshyn

ALG Newsletter Spring 2017– Page 25